Matches to Make After UFC on FX 3

Sometime later this year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will
crown its first flyweight titleholder. Demetrious
Johnson made sure he would at least have a chance to partake in
history.

Johnson outdueled the top-ranked Ian McCall in
the UFC flyweight tournament semifinals, as he used superb timing
and incomparable speed to walk away with a unanimous decision
victory at
UFC on FX 3 on Friday at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise,
Fla. “Mighty Mouse” swept the scorecards by 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28
counts, handing McCall his first defeat at 125 pounds.

The win -- which comes three months after Johnson battled McCall to
a controversial majority draw in their first matchup -- propels the
AMC Pankration export into the final of the flyweight
tournament, where Joseph
Benavidez awaits. A protégé of former
WEC poster boy Urijah
Faber, the 27-year-old Benavidez looked downright dominant in
his 125-pound debut, as he flattened Japanese veteran Yasuhiro
Urushitani in March.

Johnson will have his work cut out for him, as Benavidez has won
his last four fights. An athletic wrestler with potent finishing
ability, he has secured 12 of his 16 professional victories by
knockout, technical knockout or submission. His list of victims
includes former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel
Torres, onetime
International Fight League featherweight titleholder Wagnney
Fabiano and 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling
World Championships gold medalist Rani
Yahya.

In wake of UFC on FX 3, here are five other matchups that need to
be made:

Ian
McCall vs. Yasuhiro
Urushitani: By now, UFC brass should have a firm grasp on
what a marketable commodity it has in McCall. The mercurial
Californian and his handlebar mustache will likely remain factors
in the promotion’s fledgling flyweight division for years to come,
either as a perennial contender or as an invaluable litmus test for
other 125-pound hopefuls. McCall simply could not deal with
Johnson’s overwhelming speed, dizzying lateral movement and ability
to escape disadvantageous positions. That will not be as
significant a problem for him against most other flyweights.
Urushitani’s debut in the Octagon was brief and violent, as
Benavidez halted him on strikes 11 seconds into the second round of
their tournament semifinal. Time may be running out for the
35-year-old Japanese standout, but he at least deserves one more
crack at the division’s elite before the UFC weighs the possibility
of moving him down in the pecking order or even cutting him loose.
A showdown with McCall, with both men on the rebound, sounds like a
plan.

Erick
Silva vs. Siyar
Bahadurzada: No one in South Florida did more to up their
stock than Silva. The Brazilian prospect was utterly electrifying
in submitting respected AMA Fight Club representative Charlie
Brenneman in the co-main event. Silva, a former Jungle Fighting
champion, appears to have few, if any, weaknesses. Perhaps a
showdown with a heavy-artillery striker would reveal even more of
his potential. Bahadurzada has a date with Chris
Clements at UFC 149 on July 21. He has finished his past five
opponents with strikes, four of them inside the first round. If
Bahadurzada clears the Clements hurdle, a matchup with Silva could
prove golden.

Charlie
Brenneman vs. Josh Neer:
Brenneman had a night to forget, tapping out to a rear-naked choke
from Silva. Neer did not fare much better, as he found himself face
down on the mat after his encounter with a Mike Pyle right
hand. Despite their defeats, Brenneman and Neer remain valuable
parts of the UFC’s welterweight division. A bout between them makes
plenty of sense.

Eddie
Wineland vs. Mike
Easton-Ivan
Menjivar winner: Wineland notched his first UFC victory in
spectacular fashion, as he put away the durable Scott
Jorgensen in the second round of their bantamweight scrap.
Though his stout right hand packs quite the wallop, toughness
remains Wineland’s most endearing quality. The 27-year-old former
WEC champion fought through a nasty gash -- the result of a
first-round knee strike -- to defeat Jorgensen. The performance
puts him in contention for a Top 10 ranking and positions him for
another high-profile matchup at 135 pounds. When the dust settles
from the Easton-Menjivar scrap at UFC 148, throw Wineland the
winner and let the sparks fly.

Mike
Pyle vs. Mike
Pierce: There may be no more underappreciated welterweight
than Pyle, who, at age 36, has never looked better. The
Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts export wiped out Neer with a
devastating right hand in the closing seconds of the first round.
Pyle has developed an effective standup game to go along with the
smooth grappling skills for which his has become known, rattling
off five wins in six outings. In the last three years, he has only
lost to Jake
Ellenberger and Rory
MacDonald. Perhaps the time has come to up the ante once again.
Pierce grinded through Carlos
Eduardo Rocha with surprising ease, but, despite the high
regard with which most hold him, the Oregonian has alternated
between wins and losses in each of his last four appearances. Why
not give Pyle a shot?